East Orange Chamber Asks For Permits To Build Office

Directors of the East Orange Chamber of Commerce are applying for the necessary permits to construct a 30,000-square-foot office building where the chamber office now sits.

The Orange County Commission last week upheld zoning board decisions to rezone part of the chamber property from agriculture to professional office use to allow construction of the mall-style structure.

Most of the 1 1/2-acre lot on East Colonial Drive is zoned commercial. The chamber had asked that all of the land be rezoned commercial with access to Union Park Drive, which runs along the back of the property. A back entrance to the property would eliminate the need to make a U-turn to get to the building from the eastbound lane of Colonial, said Mike Baumann, chamber president.

Zoning officials would not allow the rear access and only agreed to rezone the back portion of the property for professional office use, which requires the chamber to put up an eight-foot wall on the northern end to screen the building from neighboring homes.

Zoning director Sharon Smith said the county has been trying to preserve the residential neighborhood along Union Park Drive by restricting commercial growth on Colonial. The rear portion of the chamber property that was zoned agricultural had provided a buffer for the neighborhood, Smith said.

Baumann said chamber officials will proceed with plans to build the structure under the rezoning granted by the county. But, he said, after the building is completed, the chamber will try to convince county traffic engineers that an entrance on Union Park Drive would be safer.

He said the residential character of the neighborhood would not be harmed by the rear entrance because the church and school next door to the chamber already have a rear entrance.